Bronzing apparatus



April 17, 1945. A. BELL 2,373,991

BRONZING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 24, 1942 2 Sheets Sheet L W Io,

' Fig. 1.

INVENTOR ARTHUR BELL April 17, 194s.v A. BELL 2,373,991

BRONZING APPARATUS Filed' Sept. 24, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3..

INVEN'fOR ARTHUR BELL 1 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 17, 1945 BRONZING APPARATUS Arthur Bell, London N.1, England, assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, New

York, N. Y.

Application September 24, 1942, Serial No. 459,597 g In Great Britain October 8, 1941 4 Claims. (Cl. 91-16) This invention relates to bronzing means for use in connection with the bronzing (or similar treatment) of imprints on cigarettes and more particularly to cigarette machine printers of the single drum type, i. e. wherein the cigarette paper web passes around a single drum about which is located the die or dies of the printer and the bronze applying and cleaning means.

An object of the invention is to provide improved meansfor applying bronze to the imprints whereby the bronze is brought into contact only with those parts of the wrapper or web where the imprints are located instead of being brushed over the whole surface as hitherto. A further object is to provide improved means for removing and collecting the excess bronze from the paper web in a manner adapted to recover a high percentage of the bronze.

According to one feature of the invention the removal of the excess bronze is effected by one or more rotary brushing rolls.

According to another feature of the invention excess bronze is removed by brushing means located in a chamber which is coupled to a source of suction.

According to a further feature of the invention the bronze is applied to the imprint by a rotary element having a segmental bronze applying'surface and driven synchronously with the printer die'roll, whereby the bronze is only broughtinto contact with the cigarette web at the spaced imprints.

The invention will nowbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front view of the bronzing appara- I tus, the front cover of the housing for the bronze applying and cleaning mechanisms being omitted;

Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Figure 1, the front cover of the housing for the bronze applying and cleaning mechanisms being shown fragmentarily;

Figure '3 is a detail section of the bronze plier, and

Figure 4 is a section of a modified bronze applier.

In carrying the invention into effect according to one convenient mode as applied to a cigaretteprinte having a single drum I and a pair of printing assemblies arranged at spaced points,

bronze cleaning means. Printer die roll 2 applies spaced imprints of sizing material to the cigarette paper running over drum 1, and the bronze applying means applies bronze to the spaced imprints of sizing material on the cigarette paper. The printer die roll 3 applies ink of the desired color to the bronzed sections of the cigarette paper. Since the construction and 'op eration of the die rolls 2 and 3 is conventional, further description thereof is deemed unnecessaw.

The bronze cleaning means comprises a pair of spaced driven rolls 1, 8 having a brushing surface 9 conveniently formed of a strip of plush or other suitable pile fabric or it may comprise hair or bristles. The brushes co-operate with stationary rods 31 to prevent clogging with the bronze. The rods 5'! are mounted in brackets 32 which are provided with oval slots through which pass screws 33 threaded into shafts '34 and supporting brackets 32. On bushings on shafts 34 I are mounted gears I3 and it, and the rolls 1 and 8 are fixed to the hubs of gears l3 and M, re-

spectively. The shafts 34 are supported by adjustable arms i l, I l pivoted coaxially with a common driving gear wheel i2 meshing with gears l3, M, the arms l0 and i i being respectively provided with extensions Mia, and Ila; The gear 12 is secured to a shaft 31 revolving in a bushing 39 on which the arms IE! and l l are pivotally mounted, bushing 39 being supported in a boss ll of the housing 43. lfhe common gear wheel 12 is driven from any suitable moving part on the machine, as hereinafter described. Means are provided for setting and locking the arms It, H in their adjusted positions. Such means may comprise adjusting Spindles l5 and Hi threaded into the portion of the front cover 43a which is fragm-entarily shown in Fig, 2, and provided with eccentric portions lea, and ita respectively, adjacent their inner ends and operable by knobs ll, l8 from the exterior of the chamber 5. The inner ends of the spindles l5 and it are supported in the housing 43. The eccentric portions 15a and |6a of spindles l5 and I6 bear against the extensions Illa and Ila of arms l0 and H which are held in contact with'the eccentric portions and Mia by tension springs 19, 20. When set the arms may be locked by a stud 30 passing through transverse slots in extensions law and Ha, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and threaded into housing '43 (Figs. 1 and 2), the stud 30 being provided on its outer end with a nut 30a engaging the extension l fla and clamping the extensions Illa and,

Ha against a shoulder 3017 on stud 30.

The chamber in which the brushing rolls 1 and 8 are located is connected up to a suitable source of suction by way of a nipple 45 in which the hose 29 is secured and a separation chamber (not shown) whereby the excess bronze removed by the rolls is collected for returning to the bronzing compartment. Nipple 45 is retained against the bottom of housing 43 by blocks A! fastened to the bottom of housing 43, and one end of hose 29 is secured in a collar 49 fastened to the bottom of nipple 45.

By using cleaning rolls such as l, 8 instead of the usual velvet band it is found that the recovered bronze is substantially pure whereas with the band a considerable amount of chalk and other foreign matter is removed from the cigarette web and becomes mixed with the bronze. It will moreover be appreciated that with the known velvet band (apart from the fact that it acts with a rubbing action) owing to its considerable contact area with the paper web, picks up surplus bronze, chalk and other foreign matter and in a comparatively short time becomes so impregnated that it ceases to be a cleaning device. On the other hand, with the improved arrangement of brushing rolls which only have line contact with the cigarette web, these disadvantages are eliminated so that they retain their cleaning properties for a much longer period.

While it is preferred to use a pair of brushing rolls 1', 8 in some circumstances one roll may be adequate or more than two rolls may be used.

According to a modification the suction effect may be confined to the zone of the brush rolls by the provision of a pair of shields partially surrounding the brush rolls and secured upon a manifold coupled up to a source of suction.

In applying the bronze according to the invention a rotary roll 2| is provided having a wiper 22 (or wipers) of velvet or other suitable mate rial connected to the roll by suitable clipping means 23, the free or loose portion of the wiper 22 being of a length only suflicient for the imprint so that the bronze is only applied upon the surface of the cigarette web at the spaced imprints. Roll 2! is secured on one end of a shaft 55 supported in a boss 57 of housing 43 (Fig. 3). A gear 59 keyed on the other end of shaft 55 is driven through an intermediate gear (not shown) from the die roll 2. A pinion BI is secured to the hub of gear 63 keyed on the end of the shaft 3'! protruding from the boss 4! of housing 43. Gear 63 is driven from a suitable gear (not shown), and gear 6! drives the printer die roll 3 through intermediate gears (not shown),

The gear 59 on the shaft 55 of roll 2| is driven insynchronism with the printer die roll 2 by suitable change gear wheels according to the speed of the die roll so that the bronze is applied at the appropriate positions.

The bronze is conveyed to the wiper roll 2| by a feeder roll 24 which is located in the bronze supply, a concentric oscillating agitator 25 being provided which is oscillated by a cam 26 engaging arms 27 on the agitator.

According to a modified form of bronze applying roll (see Figure 4), a strip of adhesive felt or velvet 28 is anchored to the roll M, the strip being secured to the top of the clip by the adhesive to form a pad or dabber.

I claim:

1. In a cigarette machine printer, the combi nation with'a rotating member for imprinting uniformly spaced sections of a continuous web of cigarette paper,.of a rotary roll having a segmental bronze applying surface and driven synchronously with said member to apply bronze only to the spaced imprints of said web, and a rotary brushing roll arranged to engage said web and brush off surplus bronze applied to said imprinted sections.

2. In a cigarette machine printer, the combination with a rotating member for imprinting uniformly spaced sections of a continuous web of cigarette paper, of a rotary roll having a segmental bronze applying surface and driven syn- .ironously with said member to apply bronze only to the spaced imprints of said web, and a. rotary brushing rollarranged to engage said web and brush off surplus bronze applied to said imprinted sections, and a suction hood surrounding said roll and connected to a suitable source of suction.

3. In a cigarette machine printer, the combination with a device for imprinting uniformly spaced sections of a continuous web of cigarette paper, of means for applying bronze only to the imprinted sections of said web, a pair of rotating rolls which are each covered with plush and arranged to engage said web and brush off surplus bronze applied to said imprinted web sections by said device, a pair of pivoted arms each supporting one of said rolls, and mechanism for adjusting said arms to move said rolls toward or away from said web.

4. In a cigarette machine printer, the combination with a device for imprinting uniformly spaced sections of a continuous web of cigarette paper, of means for applying bronze only to the imprinted sections of said web, a pair of rotating rolls which are each covered with plush and arranged to engage said web and brush off surplu bronze applied to said imprinted web sections by said device, a pair of pivoted arms each supporting one of said rolls, and mechanism for adjusting said arms to move said rolls toward or away from said web, said mechanism comprising a pair of rotatable spindles, eccentrics mounted on each of said spindles and respectively engaging-One of said arms, and springs urging said arms against said eccentrics, whereby rotation of said spindles will vary the position of said rolls with respect to said web.

ARTHUR BELL. 

